Despite the successes of his iconic and blockbuster films, actor Keanu Reeves revealed on Monday that he is plagued by a chronic affliction that leaves him “thinking about death all the time.”
Keanu Reeves, born September 1964 in Beirut, Lebanon, is a Canadian actor who grew up in Toronto.
His acting career took off with the release of an iconic 1980s film that showcased Reeves’s comedic prowess. Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure debuted at the box office in 1989, and moviegoers were introduced to a young new actor who seemed to have a knack for drawing laughter from the audience.
Credit: Orion Pictures/MGM
In the film, a 25-year-old Reeves plays a very different role from those for which he would later become best known.
His versatility as an actor was further highlighted in the film Point Break (1991), but it was Reeves’s performance as Los Angeles Police officer Jack Traven in the 1994 thriller Speed opposite actress Sandra Bullock that solidified his status as a leading man in Hollywood.
Credit: Warner Bros.
A Different Kind of Hollywood Actor
Over the years, Keanu Reeves has earned critical acclaim for embodying various characters and for his calm, often enigmatic persona, which was extremely evident in Reeves’s role as Neo in the groundbreaking science fiction film The Matrix (1999) and its sequels, The Matrix Reloaded (2003) and The Matrix Revolutions (2021).
Credit: Warner Bros.
Reeves’s filmography spans a wide range of genres. In the 2000s, he starred in The Replacements (2000), Sweet November (2001), and the horror-thriller Constantine (2005).
His role in John Wick (2014) and its sequels, John Wick: Chapter 2 (2017), John Wick: Chapter 3: Parabellum (2019), and John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023), revitalized his career and showcased his abilities in action films.
Credit: Warner Bros.
A Terrible Affliction is Plaguing Keanu Reeves
For all of his successes, however, Reeves has been hiding a dark and lonely secret–one that has him constantly thinking about his own mortality and eventual death.
Despite Reeves’s reputation for being “eternally youthful,” the former Matrix star admitted during an interview with BBC News on Monday that he cannot stop thinking about death.
Credit: Good Morning America
“I’m 59, so I’m thinking about death all the time,” Reeves told BBC News on Monday.
‘The Book of Elsewhere’
The actor appeared with author China Miéville on the BBC to talk about their new novel, The Book of Elsewhere, which tells the story of an immortal character who is eager to die. But Reeves says he is trying to keep his hyperfocus on death in perspective.
“Hopefully, it’s not crippling,” he said. “But hopefully, it’s sensitized [us] to an appreciation of the breath we have and the relationships that we have the potential to have.”
Credit: Amazon
The new novel draws inspiration from the popular BRZRKR (pronounced “berserker”) comic book series, which Reeves created and launched in 2021 and is scheduled for a live-action series on Netflix with Reeves in the starring role. An anime series is also in the works.
Hopefully Keanu Reeves’s anticipation about the success of his new novel and his upcoming live-action series and anime series can help to distract his mind from constantly being focused on his impending doom.
Becky's from the Lone Star State and has been writing since she was 10 and encountered her first Disney Park when she was 11. It was love at first Main Street Electrical Parade. Joy is blank lined journals, 0.7 mm pens, and all things Walt, Woody and Buzz, PIXAR, Imagineering, Sleeping Beauty (make it blue!), Disney Parks history and EPCOT. At Disney World, you'll find her croonin' with the birdies at the Enchanted Tiki Room or hangin' with Woody and the gang at Toy Story Land. If you can dream, you really can do it!
Becky's from the Lone Star State and has been writing since she was 10 and encountered her first Disney Park when she was 11. It was love at first Main Street Electrical Parade. Joy is blank lined journals, 0.7 mm pens, and all things Walt, Woody and Buzz, PIXAR, Imagineering, Sleeping Beauty (make it blue!), Disney Parks history and EPCOT. At Disney World, you'll find her croonin' with the birdies at the Enchanted Tiki Room or hangin' with Woody and the gang at Toy Story Land. If you can dream, you really can do it!